Pan Orient Energy Corp.

Thailand Drilling Update

CALGARY, Alberta, July 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pan Orient Energy Corp. (“Pan Orient” or the “Company”) (POE – TSXV) reports an update on Thailand drilling.

THAILAND

Concession L53 Onshore (Pan Orient Energy (Siam) Ltd., in which Pan Orient has 50.01% ownership)

The second phase of the 2020 drilling program commenced in late June with the L53-BB1 exploration well, drilled from a surface location approximately 1.9 kilometers north (subsurface total depth location 1.1 kilometers north) of the L53-DD oilfield.  After experiencing drilling difficulties at a measured depth (“MD”) of 1,475 meters, the well was plugged back and sidetracked (L53-BB1ST1) from a depth of 430 meters MD.  Upon reaching a total depth of 1,529 meters MD (1,090 meters true vertical depth), L53-BB1ST1 encountered an estimated combined 10.55 meters of possible oil pay as interpreted in the SH1/AA, AA2 and BB sandstones based on wireline logs, oil and gas shows while drilling and analog to nearby wells.  Testing will be required to confirm this interpretation and is expected to commence upon 90 day test approval by the Government of Thailand oil and gas regulator.  No reserves of any classification had been attributed to any of the sands encountered by the L53-BB1ST1 exploration well in the most recent third party reserves report as at December 31, 2019.

The drilling rig is currently rigging down and moving to the L53-DD drilling pad where an intended water disposal well (L53-DD8) will be drilled, which is expected to encounter shallow untested sands before penetrating the main sandstone reservoirs in the vicinity of their inferred oil water contacts substantially down dip from the crest of the structure.  The final classification of the well (producing or water disposal) will be determined after the completion of drilling and wireline logging.

A third exploration well that was originally planned as part of the current drilling phase, L53AC-E, has been deferred until late 2020 and will likely be drilled as part of a program that includes an appraisal well at the L53-DD oilfield.  The exact timing and nature of this drilling program will be dependent on oil prices and the global COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Lastly, the L53-AA2 exploration well, representing a potential new pool discovery drilled in February 2020, has received 90 day production test approval and is planned to commence testing in late July 2020.

COVID-19 Coronavirus

The operations in Thailand of Pan Orient Energy (Siam) Ltd. (“POS”) have been affected by the worldwide COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.  The Thailand government imposed a state of emergency in late March, giving it wide-ranging powers to address the crisis.  Social distancing and personal hygiene were strongly encouraged, and many businesses closed.  An overnight curfew was imposed in early April and the government issued a travel ban on all foreigners entering Thailand. These measures have been effective.  New confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Thailand peaked at the end of March and early April, followed a week or so later by a peak in deaths.  Overall, the infection and death rate has been much lower in Thailand than in most western nations.